Break on Me
by CeciliaCurtis
Summary: Stephanie and Joe are done for good. Only a true friend would allow her to break on him. Inspired by the song of the same name by Keith Urban. I don't own, but adore the characters.


Deep down, I knew this would happen. I didn't want to believe it happened like this. My long time on and off boyfriend call it quits, for good. It was the end. He called it quits, again. Thankfully, this time we were both fully clothed.

My name is Stephanie Plum. I'm now a single, white female approaching 35 years old. I went from engaged to getting engage to alone drinking a beer and eating ice cream. Hell, maybe I should go for the trifecta and get a cat.

Joe Morelli called me earlier today and asked me to meet him at his house around six. He had been acting strange lately, so I figured he was nervous about popping the question. He had every right to be since I had turned him down a few times and usually hyperventilated when the topic of marriage reared its head. However, over the past couple of months, I have resigned myself to believe that this was meant to be. I wasn't going to find anyone else to put up with my crazy life and family. Anticipating that this was the moment we had both been waiting for, I gave up my search for Chelsea Langer and headed back to my apartment to shower and prepare myself for the evening.

I showered, exfoliated, shave and moisturized. I did my brown hair in long curls and made up my face just slightly. I even chose to wear the purple sundress and shoes I purchased for Joe over a year ago and never got to wear. After practicing saying, "Yes, I will marry you" in the mirror at least ten times, I drove over to his house on Slater.

After I arrived, I let myself inside. Joe's Aunt Rose left him the house a few years back when she passed. Over the years, Joe had updated much of the décor, including adding leather furniture and a pool table. It was no longer the house of an elderly woman, but more a modern family or in our case a pre-modern family. It smelled of Old Spice, beer and garlic. I could see the pool table being moved to the garage or basement after I moved into the house. However, it didn't bother me where it was, right now.

"Hello!" I yelled walking into the foyer. I close the door behind me and made my way to the living room.

Joe ran down the stairs toward me wearing a faded pair of jeans and a gray t-shirt. He looked like he needed a shave and a haircut and was sexy as hell. He was just over six feet tall and despite his diet being as close to crappy as mine, he kept in shape. His arms didn't stretch the limit of the shirt, but it was tight enough to see defined muscle.

"Whoa!" he said looking me up and down. "You look nice. Taking grandma to a viewing later?"

I've had embarrassing moments throughout my life, but this one topped it all. I tried to cover. "Um, yeah." Elegant, right?

Joe sat in his recliner. He didn't hug me or kiss me. I sat on the edge of the sofa and crossed my legs. If the casual dress hadn't tipped me off that there was a problem, it was the way he was running his finger through his dark curly hair. Joe was nervous, almost scared. His whiskey brown eyes refused to meet mine. He leaned forward in the chair resting his elbows on his thighs and laced the fingers of his hands together. This wasn't good.

"Listen, Steph. There is no easy way to say this." He paused, "I've met someone."

My heart sank. He was breaking up with me, for someone else.

"Actually, I met her some time ago. Well um… she's…"

Despite the urge to knee him in the balls and scratch his eyes out, I decided to be an adult and wait him out. If he was going to break up with me, I was going to make him go all the way.

After a couple of moments of silence, Joe finally looked up at me. "I found out last night, she's pregnant, with my child.

A punch in the face followed by a shot in the ass would have hurt less than what he just said. My heart raced and there was a hammer slamming into my head. I thought I was going to be sick. I wanted to yell. I wanted to scream. I wanted to hit him, but I couldn't move. I was in shock. Not only was he breaking up with me, but he also cheated on me and got her pregnant, while we were engaged to get engaged. The same man who told me loved and wanted the spend the rest of his life with me. This same man wanted me to quick my job and be his wife. All this time, he was cheating on me.

I stood up from the sofa, straightened my skirt, walked out the door and never looked back. As I approached my car, I heard his voice. I heard words, but I wasn't sure what he was saying. I didn't care. He had broken my heart and in the same instant, he broke me.

I drove straight home. The moment I walked through the door of my apartment I kicked my shoes off sending them flying across the room. Rex jumped in his cage at the sound of my shoe crashing into the cupboard. After grabbing a beer from the refrigerator, I opened the top, leaned against the refrigerator down and downed half of it letting the cold carbonation tingle my throat. I lowered the bottle and took a breath. I wanted to hit something, or throw something. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. So, I grabbed the pint of ice cream I bought the night before.

On the way to my second lumpy sofa, I concluded my life was shit. I'm 35 years old and I live like a college student, working a dead-end job and living paycheck to paycheck. Now, I find out that once again, I can't keep a man happy. I had the urge to drink like a college student, too.

I opened the ice cream and then looked around. Fuck! I forgot a spoon. Instead of being a lady and getting one, I dipped my finger in the cold creamy goodness. The comforting mixture sent a chill through my body cooling my anger only slightly.

As I ate the ice cream, I wasn't just angry, I was humiliated. Once again, I had been cheated on by the man I thought loved me. At least, he told me he loved me. I was ready to move on and move in with him.

The locks on my front door tumbled and I knew who was about to enter. However, I didn't want my friend, one-time lover, and mentor, Ricardo Carlos Manoso, aka Ranger to see me at my lowest moment in life.

After the door opened, I yelled, "Ranger, this isn't a good time."

Of course, Ranger wouldn't accept my response and entered my living room anyway. He crossed his arms covering his muscled chest. He was wearing his normal badass uniform of black cargos and a long sleeve t-shirt. His hair had been cut short. His eyes bore into me. "Tell me what's wrong," he commanded as if he were ordering one of his men.

"No!" I responded, placing the ice cream on the table in front of me and taking the beer. I took a long pull while he watched me.

"Babe?" He asked softly, releasing his arms to his side.

"Ranger, I'm close to a breakdown right now and I really want to be alone."

Ranger sat next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. He pulled me to him. I felt warm and safe, a feeling I haven't had in a long time, even with Joe. The tears started to build and I start to pull away.

"It's ok, Steph. You can break on me. I'll hold you while you fall apart. Then, we can talk about what we can do to put you back together." Ranger said against my hair.

Those simple words opened the flood gate of tears. I cried over the humiliation of being cheated on again. I cried for wasting four years of my life with Joe. I cried for my future and the lonely life that now lay ahead for me. I know I was settling for Joe and accepting what he had to offer because the man I was truly in love with was now holding me. The more I thought about that, the harder I cried. I don't know how long I cried on Ranger's shoulder, but he held me the entire time whispering words of comfort in a mixture of English and Spanish.

When the tears finally stopped falling, I sat up and went into the bathroom. I blew my nose and washed my face. I scrubbed the tears and make-up away. I looked in the mirror and saw a face I didn't recognize. She wasn't the beautiful woman I also thought she was. She was plain, nothing special. After changing into a t-shirt and shorts, I walked back into the living room.

"You want to tell me what that was all about?"

"No," I said looking at my new painted toes. I had painted them red earlier in the day because Joe had liked the color.

"Let's try this again," Ranger said. "Come here and tell me what has you upset, please."

I groaned. He would have to say please. I sat in the corner of the sofa. I brought my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. I told Ranger everything, from how I thought this was the night Joe was going to propose, how I got dressed up and how he shattered my life.

"Did you knee him?" Ranger smirked.

I shook my head no trying to hold back the tears. I wasn't in the mood for Ranger humor. Hell, I wasn't in the mood for any humor.

After a moment, Ranger broke the silence. "I can see why you are upset."

"Humiliated," I stated. "I am humiliated. Just over a month ago, we agreed to get engaged. I finally convinced myself I could make this thing work with Joe. I've been putting a lot of effort into our relationship and all this time he had been with someone else. I wasn't enough. What's most humiliating is once again I can't hold the interest of a man. I was cheated on again, Ranger.

"Just like after my divorce, I'm going to have to deal with my mother whining about how I should have learned to cook or offered to have babies."

I jumped off the couch and started to pace. The rage was building through my body.

"I'll have to listen to Grandma Mazur and probably Lula give me sex tips on how to keep a man satisfied."

I stopped, put the heel of my hand on my forehead and closed my eyes trying to regain some composure. Suddenly, strong hands gripped my shoulders.

"Babe?"

"What?"

"It's not your fault."

I put my hand down and looked at the man in front of me. "Really? This coming from another man in my life who claims to love me, won't change his stances on relationships. I'm not good enough for you either, but at least you're not stringing me along until something better comes along."

Ranger released my shoulders and took a step back.

"Don't worry, Ranger. I'm not asking anything of you. I need a few days to deal with the humiliation and figure out my next steps.

"Did you ever think that maybe you are too much woman?"

I was confused by the question. "Explain," I commanded.

He thought about smiling before continued. "You are a smart, independent woman, who is beautiful inside and out. Dickie and Joe wanted a woman who would cater to their needs. You want to be in a relationship and they want to be the alpha male. You deserve to be with someone who loves and respects you for who you are and not try to change you into what they want you to be. You were willing to make sacrifices for a relationship with Joe. You shouldn't have to do that."

I heard his words, but I wasn't sure I understood them. I nodded, acknowledging I heard him, but I didn't want to discuss it.

"Do you want me to stay?"

I shook my head no. "I want to be alone." It's something I am going to have to get used to doing.

Ranger walked back to me and gathered me in his arms. I took a deep breath drawing in his unique masculine scent and strength. After pulling back, he kissed my forehead.

"You don't have to go through this alone. I will help you put you back together. Remember, you can always break on me."


End file.
